Dear John, Your Cookie Cutters Are In

$7,800.00

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48" x 48" Oil On Board

A simple, yet visually arresting work, Dear John, Your Cookie Cutters Are In features an entirely red canvas with the phrase ‘Ticky Tacky’ written in the lower right section in white, as well as ‘Dear John’ written very subtly in the top section in the same shade of red as the background. At the bottom right corner are three yellow circles which include the heads of three brunette women. However, the figures are faceless so it is unclear if the images are repetitions of the same woman or are three different women. Exhibiting a hair-do indicative of the 1960s, in which the ends of the hair flip up, the painting is referential of classic Americana. In conjunction with the style and bold colors, the title suggests that the women may be housewives particularly in the inclusion of ‘cookie cutters’ or kitchen ware. The title is also suggestive of a ‘Dear John’ letter which a woman sends a note to her husband or lover to inform him she has found another lover and is ending their relationship. Additionally, ‘Ticky Tacky’ is a shoddy material that is used in the construction of repeating tract-houses, particularly associated with the social and middle-class suburban development in the 1960s. The first known use of the phrase was in 1962. Just as the women are repeated in the painting, as ‘cookie cutter’ cut-outs of one another, really existing as just a slight reiteration of a societal norm, the homes they live in also conform. While this work is is both alluring and seemingly silly, it also takes some satirical jabs at its subject.